Imidazolium iodides (Im + I -s) were synthesized with different substituents of the cation and used as electrolytes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), and the effects of such substituents were investigated in terms of the photovoltaic performance of the cells. Synthesized iodides were verified by 1 H-NMR. Among the iodides, 1,3-diethylimidazolium iodide enabled a solar energy conversion efficiency of 4.8% for its DSSC, while 1-(4-acetophenyl)-3-ethylimidazolium iodide rendered an efficiency of 3.1% for its cell. In all cases the short-circuit photocurrent (J sc ) was found to increase with decrease in size of the substituent, which was also verified to be valid in the case of a quasi-solid state DSSC. Results are explained by the electrostatic interactions between solvated Im + and negatively charged species based on the correlation between diffusion coefficients of I -and I 3 -and J sc values. These explanations are supported by steady-state voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).
, and consequently an overall solar energy conversion efficiency of 4.1%. TiO 2 films and gels were characterized by FE-SEM and FT-IR, and the assembled DSSCs by photocurrent density-voltage and incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency measurements.
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